She last saw her children Leah, 18, and Luke, 17, in March 2013 and had never met her now nine-month-old grandson Antonio but was reunited with her family at home in Rumney on Sunday after the Caribbean authorities released her on bail four weeks ago after her family paid her £55,000 bail fee.

Surrounded by cards and balloons to celebrate her return home, she said: “I didn’t think this moment would come. My mum assured me while she had breath in her lungs she won’t give up. With the appeal at the Supreme Court it could take anything from two to five years so it’s just waiting. My lawyer will keep me informed. Coming back here is easier because this way I can work and get on with my life and be close to my family which is why I came back.”

Nicole said she was released without any restrictions and spent the four weeks in a safe house until she was well enough to fly home with her parents on Saturday which included a stopover in New York where she had her first hot shower in two years.

She said she believes she will never have to return to prison on the island.

“Personally I don’t think they’re going to do anything and my lawyer doesn’t either but I’m always going to have that in the back of my mind until my lawyer confirms that they’re not going to do anything.”

She said: “My lawyer said if the District Attorney wanted a restriction they would have asked for that straight away when you apply for bail. The normal procedure is they put the block on the airport, take your passport and make you sign every day or week but they did none of that.

“My lawyer said for them to convict me and then reduce my bail by an extra million, that they were just hoping I’d pay the bill and get out of the way.

“I went to Puerto Plata, I was there 20 minutes, signed and received the paperwork, and I was done.

“All these women in the jail were saying ‘go’ and I just stood there and everybody had to pack for me and help me. It didn’t feel real. I wouldn’t believe it.”

Nicole said: “I got outside and that feeling, wow, I can’t describe it. It was a relief in one respect that I was out but also I was a little apprehensive.”

After her release, Nicole stayed with the daughter of a woman she met in prison, who was jailed for drug dealing, while her flight home was being arranged.

She said: “I went to stay in her house in the Barrio which is a rough area. There were nights I spent listening to gunshots from the house. I was in a room made of wood. There’s all these people out there with guns so I had to sit on the floor in another bedroom which was made out of concrete just to protect myself while there was gun fighting and I spent four weeks there. For the first 10 days I didn’t go out I sat on a bed for 10 days I was too scared.”

She added: “I also wanted a little time to adjust because by leaving the country, I left Jorge behind and it was hard being out for the first time in nearly two years without him. I’m glad I did because I’d got to the stage that I was so bitter that I actually left on a good feeling.”

Nicole was working as a travel rep in the Dominican Republic when she met Jorge whom she married in 2007. She told the authorities his death was an accident when the Jeep she was driving and the motorbike he was on crashed. But she said: “You do feel guilty because you’re involved in that person’s death. It’s not easy.”

Nicole’s family were worried about her health in prison and had to pay numerous bills for her medication because of problems with her kidneys. Nicole said recent tests in the Dominican Republic had also flagged up possible hepatitis. She is due to see a doctor in Cardiff today.

Nicole described the first six weeks of her imprisonment, where she was kept in a holding cell in Puerto Plata, as a “hell hole”.

She said: “When I was in the holding cell, the power went off and the girls put me in a corner and all circled around me and they said you don’t realise that anybody could pay a police officer to shoot you and use the excuse the power went off.”

During her time in jail she said she remembered seeing men beating each other and a dead body on the floor and has written down much of what she saw.

“I want people to appreciate the real Dominican Republic behind the hotels and the all inclusives. I want people to know the real Dominican Republic and that’s why I want to write a book.”

Nicole said she just wants to feel normal again and is concentrating on her health and her family which includes getting to know her grandson.

She said: “As I came down the steps from the plane and I put my feet on the ground of Heathrow, my dad came up and gave me a big squeeze and I could have just burst into tears. And then my Mum came to the side and the three of us walked off together arm in arm. It was such a nice feeling.”

Nicole said she didn’t think she would be back home with her family.

“I had hope only because my mum kept me going because she said don’t give up and that kept me going. When I was there I never saw that light out of the tunnel and it felt so scary thinking am I never going to get out of here.

“There were times when I really thought I would get out in a box. You’ve got time to think and all sorts go through your mind.”

Nicole thanked her parents particularly her father Mike who she said “worked like mad” to raise the bail money by putting in extra hours in his job.

She said: “I want to get back to normal health wise and feel my self again and get on with life.

“I haven’t lived in this country for 10 years so not only have I got to adjust my life as single person without my husband, I’ve got to adjust my life to the way of life here.”

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